News

Legend Story Studios, creators of the Flesh and Blood trading card game, have set an all new attendance record during pre-release weekend of the latest Flesh and Blood set, Dusk till Dawn. Attendance numbers climbed over 17,000 global attendees of pre-release celebration events held at local game stores around the world, where players were the […]

  This is the draft submission prepared by the NZGDA so that members can give us feedback or consider the issues in their own submissions. View the draft submission here Tell us what you think. Email info@nzgda.com or comment in the #gdsr channel in nzgamedev.slack.com. For more information on the GDSRL Watch our webinar https://youtu.be/AnJg4MSIqh8 […]

On 22 June we held a webinar for NZGDA members to discuss the incoming 20% Game Development Sector Rebate to help grow Aotearoa New Zealand’s interactive industry. Watch the webinar here: https://youtu.be/AnJg4MSIqh8 Don’t forget to have your say on the Government’s rebate design by 6 July 2023. See mbie.govt.nz/game-development-sector-rebate-design-features You can continue the discussion on #GDSR […]

Each entrant must be an individual, or a group/company with at least one team lead based in New Zealand, aged at least 18 years of age or older, and a member of the NZGDA. The game cannot be available for sale or pre-sale at the time of submission. However, it is acceptable for it to […]

The Government has introduced a 20% Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR) to help grow Aotearoa New Zealand’s interactive industry. We want to make sure it benefits as many game developers as possible, so this is your chance to tell the Government whether the proposed rebate works for you or what should be changed.  Have your […]

New Zealanders love to play games as shown by new consumer sales data released today by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA). Trends are up in almost all categories as over $608 million was spent on video games in 2022, up 12% from 2021. While the digital space saw significant growth, traditional bricks and […]

NZGDA President Chelsea Rapp talks to Newshub Nation about why the NZ Game industry was shown so much support in the 2023 budget announcement    

The New Zealand Game Developers Association has welcomed the government’s budget decision to support the sector. The Budget, released on Thursday, introduced a Game Development Sector Rebate of 20 percent to help attract and retain gaming studios in New Zealand, which have been facing significant pressure from Australian and international incentives. The new 20 percent […]

We say yes it is!  TV3’s “The Project” reports on this very question, talking to NZGDA President Chelsea Rapp, Stephen Knightly, PikPok and BlackSalt games Click here for the video      

Joy has joined the NZGDA this week as Executive Director so we asked her a few questions to get to know her more:   What is it about the NZ Game Dev Community that inspires you? I am insanely creative across a wide range of things, so the work being done in NZ’s Game Dev community absolutely […]

The digital technology sector in Aotearoa is one of the fastest growing segments of our economy and has been a critical source of domestic economic growth. Given the pace of change internationally and the competition globally for those with technology skills, growing and upskilling the technology workforce is an urgent priority. We are now calling […]

What do Game Developers do over a weekend to help discuss & combat disinformation and online bullying?  A game jam – an event where participants work in teams to attempt to make a game from scratch over a 48-hour period. Embassy Wellington was proud to partner with the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA ) to […]

New Zealand game industry grows over 47% NZ video games industry achieves record growth but faces mounting Aussie threat. New Zealand’s digital video games industry boosted revenue by almost 50% to a record $407 million over the past year, employing more than 1000 people for the first time, but maintaining growth is proving challenging with […]

The results of the 2023 Executive Board Elections were announced last night at the 2023 Annual General Meeting! You can learn more about the board members here.

The New Zealand Game Developers Association and the US Mission to Aotearoa New Zealand are partnering together to create Koia Jam, a game jam competition devised to stimulate New Zealand to think about anti-bullying, anti-harassment, and anti-disinformation online. While there are long-standing policies, infrastructure, and regulations in place to ensure the safety of children on […]